De jury van de muziekprijs stelt dat Suzan & Freek „mensen verenigen in een tijd van polarisatie. Zo maakte het duo de grootste impact op de Nederlandse popmuziek in 2025.”
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Friday a federal judge "cleared U.S. power company Dominion Energy to resume work on its Virginia offshore wind project." But a U.S. federal judge also ruled Thursday that another major offshore wind farm is allowed to resume construction, reports the Hill. "The project, which would supply power to New York, was one of five that were halted by the Trump administration in December...."
In fact, there were three different court rulings this week each allowing construction to continue on a U.S. wind project:
Judge Carl Nichols, a Trump appointee, granted a preliminary injunction allowing Empire Wind to keep building... Another, Revolution Wind, was also allowed to move forward in court this week... The project would provide enough power for up to 500,000 homes, according to its website. The court's decision allows construction to resume while the underlying case against the Trump order plays out.
Meanwhile, power company Orsted "is also suing over the pause of its Sunrise Wind project for New York," reports the Associated Press, "with a hearing still to be set."
The fifth paused project is Vineyard Wind, under construction in Massachusetts. Vineyard Wind LLC, a joint venture between Avangrid and Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners, joined the rest of the developers in challenging the administration on Thursday.
CNN points out that the Vineyard Wind project "has been allowed to send power to the grid even amid Trump's suspension, a spokesperson for regional grid operator ISO-New England told CNN in an email."
Residential customers in the mid-Atlantic region, including Virginia, desperately need more energy to service the skyrocketing demand from data centers â" and many are seeing spiking energy bills while they wait for new power to be brought online.
CNN notes that president Trump said last week "My goal is to not let any windmill be built; they're losers."
The Associated Press adds that "In contrast to the halted action in the US, the global offshore wind market is growing, with China leading the world in new installations. Nearly all of the new electricity added to the grid in 2024 was renewable. The British government said on Wednesday it had secured a record 8.4 gigawatts of offshore wind in Europe's largest offshore wind auction, enough clean electricity to power more than 12m homes."
In fact, there were three different court rulings this week each allowing construction to continue on a U.S. wind project:
Judge Carl Nichols, a Trump appointee, granted a preliminary injunction allowing Empire Wind to keep building... Another, Revolution Wind, was also allowed to move forward in court this week... The project would provide enough power for up to 500,000 homes, according to its website. The court's decision allows construction to resume while the underlying case against the Trump order plays out.
Meanwhile, power company Orsted "is also suing over the pause of its Sunrise Wind project for New York," reports the Associated Press, "with a hearing still to be set."
The fifth paused project is Vineyard Wind, under construction in Massachusetts. Vineyard Wind LLC, a joint venture between Avangrid and Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners, joined the rest of the developers in challenging the administration on Thursday.
CNN points out that the Vineyard Wind project "has been allowed to send power to the grid even amid Trump's suspension, a spokesperson for regional grid operator ISO-New England told CNN in an email."
Residential customers in the mid-Atlantic region, including Virginia, desperately need more energy to service the skyrocketing demand from data centers â" and many are seeing spiking energy bills while they wait for new power to be brought online.
CNN notes that president Trump said last week "My goal is to not let any windmill be built; they're losers."
The Associated Press adds that "In contrast to the halted action in the US, the global offshore wind market is growing, with China leading the world in new installations. Nearly all of the new electricity added to the grid in 2024 was renewable. The British government said on Wednesday it had secured a record 8.4 gigawatts of offshore wind in Europe's largest offshore wind auction, enough clean electricity to power more than 12m homes."
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
A new article from Bloomberg says dozens of America's colleges "succumbed to a fundamental problem killing colleges across the US: not enough students. The schools will award their final degrees this spring, stranding students not yet ready to graduate and forcing faculty and staff to hunt for new jobs."
The country's tumbling birth rate is pushing schools toward a "demographic cliff," where a steadily dropping population of people in their late teens and early 20s will leave desks and classrooms empty. Many smaller, lesser-known schools like Cazenovia have already hit the precipice. They're firing professors, paring back liberal arts courses in favor of STEM — or closing altogether. Others will likely reach the cliff in the next few years... [T]the US birth rate ticked upward slightly before the 2008 financial crisis, and that brief demographic boost has kept enrollment at larger schools afloat. But the nationwide pool of college-aged Americans is expected to shrink after 2025. Schools face the risk that each incoming class could be smaller than the last. The financial pressure will be relentless...
Since 2020, more than 40 schools have announced plans to close, displacing students and faculty and leaving host towns without a key economic engine... Close to 400 schools could vanish in the coming decade, according to Huron Consulting Group. The projected closures and mergers will impact around 600,000 students and redistribute about $18 billion in endowment funds, Huron estimates... Pennsylvania State University, citing falling enrollment at many of its regional branches, plans to shutter seven of its 20 branch campuses after the spring 2027 semester... [C]ampuses in far-flung places, without brand recognition, are falling out of favor with students already questioning the value of a college degree. For example, while Penn State's flagship University Park campus saw enrollment grow 5% from 2014 to 2024, 12 other Penn State campuses recorded a 35% drop, according to a report tasked with determining whether closures were necessary.
The article notes that "Less than half of students whose schools shut down before they graduate re-enroll in another college or university, according to a 2022 study."
But even at colleges that remain, "The shrinking supply of students has already sparked a frenzied competition for high school seniors..."
Some public institutions are letting seniors bypass traditional requirements like essays and letters of recommendation to gain entry automatically... Direct-admission programs, which allow students to skip traditional applications, are one potential response. Some 15 states have them, according to Taylor Odle, assistant professor of educational policy studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He found in a 2022 paper that direct admissions increased first-year undergrad enrollment by 4% to 8%... And they don't require nearly as many paid staff to run, since there are no essays or letters of recommendation to read.
The country's tumbling birth rate is pushing schools toward a "demographic cliff," where a steadily dropping population of people in their late teens and early 20s will leave desks and classrooms empty. Many smaller, lesser-known schools like Cazenovia have already hit the precipice. They're firing professors, paring back liberal arts courses in favor of STEM — or closing altogether. Others will likely reach the cliff in the next few years... [T]the US birth rate ticked upward slightly before the 2008 financial crisis, and that brief demographic boost has kept enrollment at larger schools afloat. But the nationwide pool of college-aged Americans is expected to shrink after 2025. Schools face the risk that each incoming class could be smaller than the last. The financial pressure will be relentless...
Since 2020, more than 40 schools have announced plans to close, displacing students and faculty and leaving host towns without a key economic engine... Close to 400 schools could vanish in the coming decade, according to Huron Consulting Group. The projected closures and mergers will impact around 600,000 students and redistribute about $18 billion in endowment funds, Huron estimates... Pennsylvania State University, citing falling enrollment at many of its regional branches, plans to shutter seven of its 20 branch campuses after the spring 2027 semester... [C]ampuses in far-flung places, without brand recognition, are falling out of favor with students already questioning the value of a college degree. For example, while Penn State's flagship University Park campus saw enrollment grow 5% from 2014 to 2024, 12 other Penn State campuses recorded a 35% drop, according to a report tasked with determining whether closures were necessary.
The article notes that "Less than half of students whose schools shut down before they graduate re-enroll in another college or university, according to a 2022 study."
But even at colleges that remain, "The shrinking supply of students has already sparked a frenzied competition for high school seniors..."
Some public institutions are letting seniors bypass traditional requirements like essays and letters of recommendation to gain entry automatically... Direct-admission programs, which allow students to skip traditional applications, are one potential response. Some 15 states have them, according to Taylor Odle, assistant professor of educational policy studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He found in a 2022 paper that direct admissions increased first-year undergrad enrollment by 4% to 8%... And they don't require nearly as many paid staff to run, since there are no essays or letters of recommendation to read.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
tintinetmilou has added a photo to the pool:
GRONINGEN (ANP) - De Popprijs 2025 gaat naar Suzan & Freek. Het tweetal kreeg de prestigieuze juryprijs zaterdagavond uitgereikt op het festival Eurosonic Noorderslag (ESNS) in Groningen.
Suzan & Freek zou afgelopen jaar zes keer optreden in de Ziggo Dome, maar moest de concertreeks halverwege afbreken, omdat Freek Rikkerink ongeneeslijk ziek bleek te zijn. Het duo veegde daarop hun agenda leeg, maar maakte enkele weken later bekend toch weer op te gaan treden. Ook scoorden ze een nummer 1-hit met Niemand.
Volgens de jury van de Popprijs drukte niemand "het afgelopen jaar een groter stempel op de Nederlandse popmuziek dan dit duo". "Dat deden ze in een tijd waarin hun eigen leven een gitzwarte wending kreeg. Tegen die achtergrond bleef het duo artiesten die in verbinding staan met hun fans", aldus het juryrapport.
TABQA (ANP/AFP) - Het Syrische leger is verder opgerukt in het noorden van het land. Daardoor hebben ze nu gebieden in handen die lange tijd gecontroleerd werden door de Koerden.
Vorige week verdreef het Syrische leger al Koerdische militairen uit wijken in Aleppo en een nabijgelegen stad. Nu is het leger verder doorgestoten en heeft het onder meer het vliegveld Tabqa overgenomen.
De Syrische regering van Ahmed al-Sharaa wil het land graag verenigen onder één bestuur. De Koerden hebben in feite al tien jaar een autonoom bestuur, door hun verzet tegen dictator Bashar al-Assad. Nadat hij was afgezet spraken de Koerden met de nieuwe machthebbers af om het Koerdische bestuur en de Koerdische strijdkrachten te integreren in die van het nieuwe Syrië.
Maar over de manier waarop werden ze het niet eens en dat leidde de afgelopen week tot oplopende spanningen. Al-Sharaa tekende vrijdag een decreet waarin de rechten van Koerden werden erkend, maar volgens Koerden is dat nog niet genoeg.
ZOETERMEER (ANP) - De ondernemersorganisatie voor de Nederlandse technologische industrie FME is verontrust over de nieuwe heffingen die de Verenigde Staten Nederland en zeven andere Europese landen wil opleggen. Dat zegt voorzitter Theo Henrar in reactie op de aankondiging van president Donald Trump.
"De Verenigde Staten zijn namelijk een van de belangrijkste exportbestemmingen voor de Nederlandse technologische industrie", aldus Henrar. "Het is op dit moment nog onduidelijk hoe deze tarieven er in de praktijk uit komen te zien, dus FME volgt de ontwikkelingen op de voet."
De heffingen worden opgelegd aan Nederland, Denemarken, Zweden, Duitsland, Frankrijk, Finland, Noorwegen en het Verenigd Koninkrijk. Die landen hebben deze week aangekondigd militairen te sturen naar Groenland voor een verkenningsmissie.
De gezamenlijke omzet van de FME-leden bedraagt 139 miljard euro, waarvan 59 miljard euro uit export. Machines zijn een van de belangrijkste Nederlandse exportproducten naar de Verenigde Staten.
BRUSSEL (ANP) - De Verenigde Staten spelen met de aangekondigde heffingen voor Europese landen vooral China en Rusland in de kaart, zegt EU-buitenlandchef Kaja Kallas. Volgens haar dreigen zowel de VS als Europa hierdoor armer te worden en hebben alleen hun tegenstanders daar baat bij.
"China en Rusland zullen wel een goede dag hebben", schrijft Kallas op X. "Zij zijn degenen die profiteren van verdeeldheid onder bondgenoten."
De Amerikaanse president Donald Trump kwam met de heffingen tegen acht Europese landen, omdat zij Groenland en Denemarken steunen in hun verzet tegen de Amerikaanse annexatiedrang. Trump zegt het arctische eiland nodig te hebben voor de nationale veiligheid en om te voorkomen dat Rusland en China het zouden kunnen innemen.
Denemarken heeft gezegd dat er geen sprake is van een Chinese of Russische dreiging bij Groenland. Kallas benadrukt dat "als de veiligheid van Groenland in gevaar is, dan kunnen we dit binnen de NAVO aanpakken".
MALMÖ (ANP) - De Nederlandse handbalmannen hebben hun eerste duel op het EK verloren van Zweden. Ondanks het verlies liet de ploeg van bondscoach Staffan Olsson zich van zijn beste kant zien. Tegen de recordwinnaar van het EK en medegastland van dit toernooi werd het 36-31.
In de volgepakte Malmö Arena kon Nederland lang mee met de Zweden. Vlak voor rust, bij een achterstand van 12-11, moest Oranje-sterspeler Luc Steins met rood van het veld na het duwen van het doorgebroken Zweedse toptalent Nikola Roganović. Diezelfde Roganović, 19 jaar oud, scoorde de strafworp vanaf 7 meter die op de overtreding volgde. Op dat moment was het verschil gemaakt in het voordeel van het gastland.
Eerder op zaterdag wist Kroatië in de groep van Nederland met 32-29 te winnen van Georgië. Een plek bij de eerste twee in de groep van vier is nodig om de hoofdronde van het toernooi te bereiken. Nederland speelt maandag tegen Kroatië en woensdag tegen Georgië.
Een persoon is zaterdagavond rond 20:50 uur gestoken in het park tussen de Esdoornlaan en de Boulevard in Rozenburg. De politie heeft twee verdachten aangehouden. Bij die arrestatie loste een agent een waarschuwingsschot.
Excelsior heeft in de eerste thuiswedstrijd van het jaar met 2-2 gelijkgespeeld tegen Telstar. Na ongeveer zestig minuten spelen stonden de Kralingers met 2-0 achter. In de slotfase lukte het de ploeg van trainer Ruben den Uil om weer op gelijke hoogte te komen dankzij doelpunten van Irakli Yegoian en Noah Naujoks.
